Music’s changing beats

Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake and Drake are swimming in the pool of artists who have transcended music throughout the years, as seen with their top-chart ratings and large fan base. These artists have heavily influenced music for some time now, earning their tenure in the industry.

Their popularity has remained steady and true even through tweaking their work to adapt to the styles and customs of what music sounds like recently. It is because of A-list artists that impactful music changes in the industry happen to begin with.

Music has made gradual turns in order to keep up with what the general population wants to hear. Electronic beats have taken over more than one genre today, making whatever it touches modern and trendy.

Modern music is for many, their style of choice. Some can’t tolerate it and others just appreciate the music for what it is.20-year-old George Velasquez-Franceschi, a Music Education student, has no problem with the computerized sound of today’s music, but it also isn’t his preferred taste.

“Live bands are being pushed to the background unfortunately. I think that what musicians are doing, opening up to all kinds of music, is okay,” Velasquez-Franceschi said. “But instead of making pop songs or whatever songs they’re making computerized, they should use actual musicians and actual keyboards.” Velasquez-Franceschi believes the reasons for artists making similar changes to music falls on what the people are asking for, which is quick and straight-forward music.

“It’s all entertainment. It’s easy to listen to. It’s for the people, not art,” Velasquez-Franceschi said. “Classical music, for example, may be harder to get into because you have to try to pay attention, analyze it and take it apart.”

One of his favorite artists is The Killers, an alternative rock band, which he admires because of the musicality of their work. They use live music when they record and they synthesize their own tunes, which leaves for a hard-worked song full of passion.

This same love for passion and art is what keeps some music lovers rivals to this modern era. 20-year-old Tatiana Guzman is one of these lovers.

“The upbeat background music can work for some songs, like club songs, but for artists to take their music and make it hip just because it’s what’s in right now, I think is a sellout,” Guzman said. “Artists should stay true to what they came into the industry with, even when they do have to change a little bit.” When R&B singer Usher released the song “DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again,” Guzman said she remembered making a puzzled face, because she didn’t know how the slow sounding “Let It Burn” singer could go from one extreme to the next.

Guzman doesn’t mind artists doing the necessary in order to succeed, since making a living is a priority.

“Of course they want money, but in the end, isn’t music for the art of it instead of being catchy?” Guzman said.

Some students appreciate catchy. 18-year-old Sean Joseph thinks Miley Cyrus is doing an awesome job in her work with making fun catchy music. He believes that people get tired of listening to the same thing, so over time, music has to change in order to keep people from boredom.

“The topics of rap and hip-hop have changed,” Joseph said. “What used to be something real is now something that has a lot of sex, money, and glamorous lifestyles.”

Not only has the audio changed in music throughout time, but also the content. Turning on the radio, it becomes hard to find songs that won’t put you in an upbeat party mood.

The demand for entertainment has surely had an impact on the art of music, which for some, seems to be a great agitation. Whether R&B sounds like techno or rap sounds like pop, we’ll continue to listen whether it be old, or new.